TRY IT NOW Yakitori

JAPAN’S FLAVOURSOME GRILLED CHICKEN SKEWERS ARE BEING CELEBRATED BY TWO NEW LONDON RESTAURANTS

Like much of the world’s best cooking, yakitori is a celebration of something simple — but in true Japanese style, behind that apparent simplicity lies a complexity of flavour.

‘Yaki’ means ‘grilled’ or, more specifically, ‘cooked over heat’ (hence teriyaki, teppanyaki, okonomiyaki, etc), while

‘tori’ translates as ‘chicken’ or ‘bird’. And with two new London restaurants putting their own spin on this culinary classic, now’s the time to try it. Opened in May, Humble Chicken is the creation of Japanese-born chef Angelo Sato, who’s worked in Michelinstarred kitchens including Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. His menu of grilled skewers features an array of chicken cuts, including skin and neck, as well as meatballs and shiitake mushrooms. Meanwhile, at Junsei, chef Aman Lakhiani — previously of Barcelona’s Michelin-starred Dos Palillos restaurant — dishes up a huge range of grilled produce, including quail’s eggs and padron peppers, plus numerous chicken options.

Using every part of the bird is typical of this style of cooking; you’ll find breast and thigh on yakitori restaurant menus, of course, but also gizzards, tail, offal and sections of wing. Preparing and drawing out the flavour of such cuts is where the complexity and craft come in. Cooking is done on skewers set over charcoal (often binchōtan, a type of white charcoal made from Japanese oak, which can take a very high heat and doesn’t impart smoke). The idea is that the flavour of the food, rather than the method used, should shine through. This also extends to the seasoning, and many yakitori specialists will offer only two options: salt and white pepper; or tare, a glaze made from soy sauce and mirin.

No plans in place for a trip to Japan? Or to London, for that matter? Many restaurants around the UK serve yakitori, including Plymouth’s Yukisan and Edinburgh’s Hakataya. Alternatively, you can recreate the experience at home using a tabletop grill

(the Konro brand, while expensive, is well-regarded), binchōtan (available to purchase online) and a book such as Chicken and

Charcoal, from acclaimed Hong Kong restaurant Yardbird.